A manufacturer with operations throughout the United States needed a complete print management solution for the many different types of printers they use in each location. Scantron Technology Solutions works with Bradley Corporation’s IT team to ensure that their mission-critical printers keep operations humming.
In 1919, factory owner Harry Bradley patented a concept for allowing his workers to wash their hands in a communal “washfountain” to save time waiting in line. Bradley sold his patent to Gustav Grossenbach, Louis Schlesinger, and Howard A. Mullett, who officially opened The Bradley Wash fountain Company in 1921. Today, Bradley is the industry’s comprehensive source for plumbing fixtures and washroom accessories for commercial, industrial, health care, and other markets in 130 countries.
Challenge
With locations in Wisconsin, Ohio, Michigan, California, Georgia and Texas (and soon, Toronto, ONT), Bradley needed a managed print services (MPS) strategy that its IT team could count on. “We started our MPS program with Scantron about four or five years ago because of their performance with our Zebra printers prior to that,” says Kurt Kaestner, Bradley’s IT director.
Because the business required a range of printers (Zebra, dot matrix and laser) for different parts of their operations, and used a mix of brands, including HP, Lexmark and Kyocera, the IT department had to work with five separate vendors to keep their machines online. “The Zebras create labels for the product and shipping; that’s critical. The laser printers are printing off installation instructions,” says Kaestner. In addition, toner inventory management created a substantial hassle.
“We had a whole closetful of different types of toner that IT was expected to have available. Bringing in a third party just seemed like the right thing to do.”
Kurt Kaestner, IT Director, Bradley Corporation
Since STS supports more than 2,100 printer models and counting, the Bradley team was confident that its STS Field Service Technicians could solve any issue, on any machine.
Solution
With Scantron’s MPowerPrint® service, Bradley has been able to keep their printers replenished with consumables on a just-in-time basis, eliminating supply stocking issues. They’ve also been able to strategically plan printer fleet management, rein in consumables costs, and monitor all devices.
Through MPowerPrint, STS designed and delivered a tailored print management strategy and program based on Bradley’s unique functional and business requirements. The Bradley program encompasses continuous management of all of these details:
- Quantity of devices by type and model
- Variety of connectivity methods/stand-alone
- Toner inventory tracking and replenishment
- Physical map of printer locations
- Current maintenance and support response plan
- Review of lease agreements and renewal/expiration calendar
- Results and Ongoing Impact
MPowerPrint has enabled central visibility of the print environment. “When we went to the new enterprise software,” Kaestner says, recalling the company’s ERP migration, “they wanted to know how many printers there were, and we were able to get our inventory really easily.”
On a day-to-day basis, the team agrees that it’s the personal service that they receive from their field services technicians that really makes a difference.
“His name is Mike and he has a key to the building,” laughs Ronda Weber, a telecom analyst based in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin. “He knows where everything is, and he doesn’t have to interrupt anyone when he needs to get toner or spare parts. If I’m not in the office, I get a summary report so I know exactly what he’s done. He’s awesome.”
“It helps us to see which printers have the highest number of tickets and the lowest. For example, if the executive printer has four or five tickets, and we have that same type of printer but without so many tickets somewhere else, we can swap those printers.”
Ken Patrick, Helpdesk Technician, Bradley Corporation
Ken Patrick, Bradley’s helpdesk contact for laser printers, says that he and his team appreciate the quarterly reports that STS provides. “It helps us to see which printers have the highest number of tickets and the lowest. For example, if the executive printer has four or five tickets, and we have that same type of printer but without so many tickets somewhere else, we can swap those printers.”
Sue Schulz, technical support supervisor for Bradley, agrees, “We don’t have time to go to ServiceCOMMAND all the time and run reports to see what printers are giving us trouble. So STS comes in with all the statistics and all the charts and they provide the analysis for us.”
Kaestner says that he charts full color and black-and-white usage each month to see if there are areas where they can cut back on paper usage internally, but the cost of the MPowerPrint service is not an issue. “We just always want to be sure we’re continuing to get the best,” he says.
